Soda Shaq Facial Expressions / Shaq Faces

About

Soda Shaq Facial Expressions or Shaq Faces, also known as Shaq Notations, is an image compiling nine different photos of Shaquille O'Neal's face striking different expressions from a 3D modeling photoshoot for his Soda Shaq app "Soda Shaq Basketball." The exploitable image became the subject of memes in February 2024 after going viral on X / Twitter, including redraws, some of which compare the image to the level select screen in Mega Man games.

Origin

On March 19th, 2014, a selection of behind-the-scenes photos and images of Shaquille O'Neal from the production of his Soda Shaq beverage, made in collaboration with Arizona Iced Tea, were posted to Behance.^[1] One image is a compilation of Shaq striking nine facial expressions, purportedly taken for the 3D modeling of the Soda Shaq Basketball app released alongside the drinks (shown below, left).

On February 25th, 2024, X^[2] user @Volnutt_trigger posted the image using it as a meme and writing, "mega man select screen," garnering over 10,000 likes and 1,200 reposts in a day (shown below, right).

Spread

The X post inspired redraws and memes of the image over the following days. On February 25th, 2024, X^[3] user @Tarkus03l posted a meme placing the expressions in a Mega Man select screen, garnering over 130 likes in a day (shown below, left). On February 26th, X^[4] user @MojoboJomo posted a meme redrawing Shaq's faces as Mega Man bosses, garnering over 6,200 likes in under a day (shown below, right).

Also on February 26th, X^[5] user @The28thidiot posted the image, writing, "sackboy after I press the arrows on my controller," referencing the video game LittleBigPlanet, garnering over 3,400 likes in under a day (shown below). X^[6] user @realradec posted the image that same day, writing, "PS3-era PSN avatar pack that’s $4.99," garnering over 800 likes in the same span of time.

Later that day, X^[7] user @PoweredbyidTech quote-reposted @realradec writing, "Shaq DOOM status faces," garnering over 3,500 likes in a day. On February 27th, 2024, X^[8] user @MobCat_ then posted a link to a GIF^[9] consisting of a scroll through each expression stylized like the Doom expressions, which garnered over 500 likes in 10 hours (shown below).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References